Visiting Fellow
Economics and marketing
Phone: +61 (0)2 6125 3220
Fax: + 61 (0)2 6125 0746
E-mail: un.bhati@anu.edu.au

U.N. Bhati's formal education is in agriculture and economics, and he has taught and carried out research in these subjects in India, Malaysia and Australia.

About sixteen years ago, while at the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), he had a chance encounter with forestry economics and marketing. He quickly found them to be professionally both challenging and satisfying subjects. Since then, U.N. has become hooked on these topics. He has done some teaching but most of his time has gone into research on subjects such as forestry market outlook, forest plantations and farm forestry. He has written articles, conference papers, consultancy reports, inquiry submissions and monographs.

Professional Activities

During 2006, I will mainly be working with colleagues on research that we began in 2005, i.e. analysing the forest products market in India. And, under this broad topic, we will be focusing on aspects of India's paper and paperboard market, including the opportunities for Australia in this market.

From mid 1997 to the end of 2004, I devoted almost all of my time to the ANU Forestry Market Report Project. The project had the objectives of preparing and disseminating nationally quarterly market reports on forest products and inputs for Australian forest growers. The market reports were primarily for small-scale growers. By December 2004, thirty market reports had been completed. They covered topics such as: China: a market for Australian exporters of forest products; Australian Pine Log Price Index; Australia's competitors in the Japanese woodchip import market; stumpage trends in Western Australia; cabinet timbers; exports of Australian forest products; trends in log prices in Tasmania; stumpage prices over the next 10, 20, 30. years; consumption of sawnwood and wood based panels; salinity credits; firewood market; stumpage trends in South Australia; Japanese woodchip import market; carbon credit markets; market trends in the 1990s; market for forest products in South Korea; trends in sawnwood market; cost of log transport; log exports; cost of tree seedlings and cuttings; log and agricultural product prices beyond 2000; structural timber prices.

Forestry and agricultural newsletters and magazines have published these reports. They are also available on web sites of ANU (http://fennerschool.anu.edu.au/associated/marketreport/index.html) and other organisations.

Selected Publications

Bhati, U.N. and Kwon, K.W. 2004. The Forest Products Market in Korea. School of Resources, Environment & Society, Faculty of Science, The Australian National University, Canberra, August.

Bhati, U.N. 2004. Market report for Australia's small-scale cabinet timber growers. In Suh, J., Smorfitt, D.B., Harrison, S.R. and Herbohn, J.L., Eds. Marketing of Farm-grown Timber in Tropical North Queensland, Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Rainforest Ecology and Management, Cairns.

Bhati, U.N., Kanowski, P. and Ragg, W. 2002. ANU Forestry Market Report Project: Looking to the Future. In Wettenhall, D. (ed.), Private Forestry - Sustainable, Accountable and Profitable, Proceedings of Australian Forest Growers 2002 National Conference, 13-16 October 2002, Albany, Western Australia, stream session paper number 271.

Bhati, U.N. 2001. The ANU Market Report Project. In Herbohn, J., Harrison, S., Herbohn, K. and Smorfitt, D. (eds) Developing Policies to Encourage Small-Scale Forestry, IUFRO Research Group, Proceedings from International Symposium, Kuranda, Australia, 9-13 January 2000, pp. 27-29.

Dargavel, J., Conley, K., Proctor, W., Ferguson, I. and Bhati, U.N. 1999. Direct and Indirect Employment in the Forest Sector and Forest Sector Employment as a Proportion of Total Employment, Montreal Process Project 6.5a, Final Report, School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, The University of Melbourne, January.

Bhati, U.N., Mahendrarajah, S. and Evans, P.D. 1998. Australian woodchip export markets. In Dyason, R., Dyason, L. and Garsden, R. (eds), Plantation and Regrowth Forestry: A Diversity of Opportunity, Australian Forest Growers Biennial Conference Proceedings, 6-9 July, Lismore NSW, pp. 177-88.

Shand, R. and Bhati, U.N. 1997. Pakistan: Economic Profiles in South Asia, Australia South Asia Research Centre, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, March.

Shand, R. and Bhati, U.N. 1997. Nepal: Economic Profiles in South Asia, Australia South Asia Research Centre, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, July.

Bhati, U.N., Hafi, A., Hooper, S., and Stanford, L. 1996. Papaya Fruit Fly: Cost-benefit Analysis of the Proposed Eradication Campaign, ABARE project 1380, an ABARE consultancy report to the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, Canberra, February.

Wilson, S., Whitham, J., Bhati, U.N. and Tran, Y. 1995. Trees on Farms: Survey of Trees on Australian Farms, 1993-94, ABARE Research Report 95.7, Canberra.

Bhati, U.N. and J. Whitham. 1994. Farm forestry in Australia. In ABARE, Quarterly Forest Products Statistics, September quarter, 1-3.

Bhati, U.N. and Rose, R. 1992. Prospects for Australia's wood based industry: Effects of some microeconomic policy reforms. ABARE Conference Paper 92.22 presented at 'Australia's Timber and Forest Industry: A Strategy for the Future' Conference, Sydney, 28-29 May.

Bhati, U.N., Klijn, N., Curtotti, R., Dean, M. and Stephens, M. 1991. Financial Mechanisms for and Structural Impediments to the Development of Commercial Plantations. ABARE consultancy report to the National Plantations Advisory Committee, Canberra, May.

O'Regan, M. and Bhati, U.N. 1991. Pricing and Allocation of Logs in Australia, ABARE Discussion Paper 91.7, AGPS, Canberra.